Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed! Please don't sue me! Most of the faeries are mine, though… pretty faeries!
princesscatie21 – Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, as long as you keep reviewing, I won't quit on it!
"Imagination is intelligence having fun." --- Anonymous
Chapter19 – Reunited
The thudding in the caves had been getting progressively louder, and with each loud pounding, the few, small stalagmites and stalactites scattered around them vibrated a little.
"He's almost here." Aurakmet said to no one in particular.
"Yep." Phoebe sighed. "I'm bored!"
"What? We have a giant on his way here, to kill us, and we can't run for fear of the gnome king finding you. We're facing imminent death here, and your BORED?!?" Jemwest stared at Phoebe as if she were completely insane.
"Well, death is not imminent, since my sisters are on their way, and there's nothing to do meanwhile. Of course I'm bored!" Phoebe retorted.
"You must have nerves of steel, Human." Aurakmet snorted.
"Naw, I just prefer to think about the future as little as possible." She shrugged.
The faeries just raised their eyebrows and shook their heads.
"There it is!" Rose called out.
"We're here?" Piper asked, "Because I really don't see anything but more path."
"Yeah, but try leaning on it!" Rose said excitedly.
"Lean on air? You must be daft lady!" Paige glanced skeptically at the narrow trail ahead of them.
Rose promptly put her back against it, leaning at a crazy angle that she couldn't possible keep her balance with.
"Ok. So the trail is finished. What now?" The so-far-silent Angras asked quietly. He was just as anxious to get back to Phoebe as her sisters were.
"Now, my angelic friend, we search the ceiling for a hatch to go up through." Rose replied, and she flung her arms up to search for a small crack that might open up to the caves.
Angras copied her movements, his long fingers caressing the damp stone above him, exploring for an unusual fault in the smooth rock. Success! He pinched his fingers inside the slight fissure, pushing in and down. In a shower of rock and dirt, a large boulder fell down with a crash.
"Hey, nice work Angras!" Rose hovered over, peering up at the short tunnel stretching up.
Lucina patted the angel's shoulder in congratulation, pulled herself onto the stone steps leading up, and began to climb.
Without another word, the rest of the group followed suit.
"Do you hear that?" Phoebe perked up.
"Yes, we've already established that there is a giant on his way here." Aurakmet rolled his eyes.
"No, not that. You can hear it too, can't you little guy?" Phoebe started to get up, while Vek began to scrabble around with his ear to the floor, trying to find the source of this new thudding.
The two older faeries moved over to where the banging was coming from.
"Phoebe! It's us! Help us move the big boulder!" said a muffled voice coming from under their feet.
"Piper!" Phoebe yelled. "See! I told you they'd be here!" Phoebe stuck her fingers into a little nick in the rock and pulled, while the other faeries shrank themselves to fit inside other little notches and put their backs to it.
"Push, down there!" Phoebe called to her companions underneath.
"We're pushing!" Called a strained voice that sounded a lot like Rose.
A low, grating sound filled the cave, and Lucina appeared, shoulder against the heavy stone, and the slab of rock overturned and slammed on the ground.
Slowly, the group filed out of the hole. Piper, Paige and Prue draped themselves on top of Phoebe, too tired to stand up and properly hug her.
When they had finally caught some of their breath and got off their sister, Angras pulled Phoebe into a massive bear hug.
"You had me worried." He whispered softly in her ear. She smiled tenderly and hugged him back.
"It's good to see you again." She breathed.
Growling filled the air for a minute, and everyone jumped to their feet. Wicked pointed down the hole and snarled.
"Oh, we forgot MP!" TJ hopped in remembrance. Everyone chuckled, as Angras lowered himself back down the hole and lifted the mud puppy up.
MP snarled in greeting at the lost member of the group.
"It's good to see you too!" Phoebe patted its head, cautiously. They all chuckled again.
The harmony didn't last for long though.
A loud, angry roar made the earth vibrate, and the gang lifted their hands to their ears.
The mud puppy growled in response, and Wicked gave an evil grin before the two rushed at the shadow of the giant.
Then the giant came into view.
"That's the giant?" Piper asked laughingly.
"What are you laughing at?!? It's huge! Go! Fight!" Aurakmet's eyes grew huge as the faeries all backed up against a corner of the cavern, shivering in fear.
The Charmed One's laughed and Prue smiled.
Gor wasn't really that large at all.
He was only a little taller than Prue.
And not all that much wider.
Gor stared confusedly at the girls, who had doubled over in their hysterical laughter.
He might have been a giant – but only to small faeries, and animals.
Gor rushed at the Charmed Ones, and Piper waved a hand, still laughing, at the 'beast'.
"OwOwOwOw!" He cried in pain, hopping around on one foot. Piper had only blown up the earth around his foot. "Hey! That HURT!" Gor roared at them.
He growled angrily, and picked Wicked and MP up by the scruffs of their necks, and threw them savagely at the wall.
The monster's eyes began to glow a fiery red, and he slowly began to grow in size.
The girls' laughter began to sputter as they stared up at the monster snarling down at them.
Eyes grew wide in fear and understanding.
"So this is the Giant." Paige said in awe, and she began to back off slowly. "Why don't you take this one Piper?"
"Yeah, I mean you're the one that pissed it off." Phoebe began to back off too.
"Oh no! I am not fighting this alone! Come on! Power of three, remember! We're in this together!" Piper yelled at her cowering sisters.
"Ok. But if I die, I'm so gonna haunt you for the rest of your life!" Phoebe crept up next to her older sister. Paige only nodded in fear.
"Come on, girls! We've dealt with scarier than this before! What are you so afraid of?" Piper encouraged them, and her sisters found confidence in her words, and they stood together in a human wall, looking up at the giant's enormous, ugly face.
TBC… dun dun dun!